Rebellion

CHAPTER 87

“Before we go, it might be an idea to check on Lyf again,” said Holm that night. They were waiting by the shaft, and all was ready.

She used her failing magery to peer through the hazy distance to Lyf’s temple. It took three attempts before she saw anything, but this time she could only see, not hear.

“He’s stalking across to a table,” said Tali. “There’s a small sheet of iron on it — ”

“Iron?” said Holm.

“Like a loose leaf from the iron book he made, but it’s blank. He’s writing on it. No, etching it with a scriber. He used to use alkoyl for that, back in his caverns.”

“What’s he writing?”

“I can’t read it. But it’s only a few words. Lyf’s put the scriber down. Now he’s using his hands, as if working magery. The iron page is rising in the air — no, it’s crashed down on the table. I’d say he’s trying to send it somewhere.”

“I think I can guess what it is, and where he’s sending it,” said Holm.

“Where?”

“We know he’s planning to put the Pale down, so I’d reckon this is the death order. And a highly symbolic one, since he’s written it on a page of the iron book.”

“The Consolation of Vengeance,” whispered Tali. “And the book was unfinished. The ending hadn’t been written.”

“It has now,” said Holm. “What’s he doing?”

“I–I can’t see,” said Tali. Her heart was hammering in her ears, yet so little blood was going to her head that she felt faint. She forced herself to focus. “He’s calling someone in. A servant. No, a courier.”

“What’s he saying?”

“The only word I could lip-read was matriarchs. Now the courier’s put the iron page into a bag. He’s running out.”

“How far is it from Caulderon to Cython?” said Holm. “Quick!”

“Um… the nearest entrance is nine or ten miles, on horseback.”

“Once he gets out the gates of Caulderon, a courier could ride that in an hour, even through the rough country of the Seethings.”

“Add another hour to get out of the city,” said Tali, “and to reach the matriarchs way across Cython, but in two hours they’ll have the order.”

“Will they act on it straight away?” said Holm. “Or wait until morning?”

“I don’t know. I can’t think.”

“It must take an hour or two to get ready, surely? Four hours, say, before the Pale start to die. Can we do it in time?”

Tali ran through her mental map. “If we can get in, and we’re not discovered, and everything goes well, we can reach the Pale in an hour and a half. But to get them out, first I’ve got to convince them to rebel.”

“Surely they’ll want to escape,” said Tobry, speaking for the first time.

“They’re not like me. In Cython, any slaves who cause trouble, or show initiative, are sent to the heatstone mines to die. For a thousand years the fate of the brave and the bold has been an unpleasant death, and every Pale knows that the only way to survive is to be docile and obedient. Getting them to rebel won’t be easy.”

“But when you tell them about the death order — ” said Holm.

“What if they refuse to listen?”

“We’d better get moving,” said Tobry. He took hold of the ropes and went over the edge.

Because of the underground heat, even a cold winter was mild in the Seethings, and once they were fifty feet down the air shaft Tali was sweating as profusely as Tobry. He was twitchy, looking behind him all the time now. Holm seemed unnaturally calm but it was all an act. She knew he was terrified.

He was a far better actor than she was.

Though Holm had spliced loops into the rope every two feet, climbing down it was tricky and dangerous. Once they passed below the level of the hill, the hard volcanic rock gave way to layers of welded ash, some crumbling. The wall of the shaft was covered in slimy growths and the air had a dead reek.

“Smells like something fell in here long ago and is quietly rotting at the bottom,” said Tali, who had her feet in one loop and was hanging onto another.

“I imagine many animals have fallen in and drowned since the air shaft was last used,” said Holm. “And perhaps one or two unwary people.”

And soon, us?

They settled into the black water. A shudder rose up Tali’s back.

“At least it’s warm,” said Tobry, holding up his elbrot to provide an eerie emerald light. “Hope you’ve remembered your swimming lessons, Tali.”

He forced a smile but Tali could not reciprocate. I — can’t — do — it.

Holm counted the loops. “We’re a hundred and eighty feet below the level of the Seethings. That means the water could be a hundred feet deep…”

“That’s a hell of a dive,” said Tobry, gnawing on a thumb. “I’m not sure the spell is up to it.”

“Then fix the damn thing,” snapped Holm, his voice cracking.

Tobry made a few adjustments, using his elbrot. “All right.” He tapped Tali on the head with it, then Holm and lastly himself.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, then Tali’s lungs spasmed and she began to choke. “Can’t breathe,” she gasped.

“Get-under-water,” said Tobry.

Holm, his eyes protruding, slid beneath the surface. Tobry dropped off the rope. Tali didn’t move. She was too afraid of the black water. She clung to the loop, wanting to scream but lacking the breath to do so. It was getting worse. Her head was spinning, her fingers slipping -

Someone clamped onto her left ankle and yanked. She hit the water with a stinging splash and sank, thrashing wildly. There came a cold pain in her chest, a sharp ache that spread through her along a thousand little branches, and she could breathe again. She could breathe — underwater!

Her terror faded as a light appeared below her, Tobry’s elbrot, now glowing orange. He pulled her down to his level. Holm was a few feet below them, his eyes bulging more than before and his jaw clenched. He jerked a finger at the side of the shaft, where a rock layer had crumbled away. The rock above and below looked none too secure either.

Don’t show me anything else, she thought. If that’s how we’re going to die, I don’t want to know.

Down they went. Down, down. She could not tell how deep; the shaft felt as though it was running all the way to the centre of the world. Down, down, down. The water grew warmer, and murkier. She lost sight of Tobry and Holm. Tali thrashed a couple of times, overcome by a momentary panic, then calmed herself by an effort of will. They had to be close by; there was nowhere else they could be. She settled on crumbling, silt-covered stone and they appeared on either side.

Tobry forced more orange light from his elbrot but it did not help. They had stirred up the silt and the water was cloudy, visibility only a foot. He began to feel along the rock, looking for a way through. Tali and Holm did the same. It did not take them long. Crumbling rock covered the bottom of the shaft to an unknown depth. There was no way through.

Tali perched on the pile, head in hands. What now? Even with the loops in the rope, it would be a struggle to climb all the way back up. Tobry was creeping around the oval wall of the shaft. Every so often she caught a glimpse of him through the increasingly murky water.

He caught her arm from behind. He was pointing to the wall. She pulled herself across. A smaller air shaft led off horizontally, its entrance only partly blocked. Tali was helping to heave the rubble aside when another pain passed through her chest and for a second she felt breathless, stifled. Was Tobry’s spell wearing off too soon?

She caught his arm, urgently pointing to her chest. He nodded. He’d felt it too. What do I do? she mimed.

He raised his hands, palms up. He didn’t know either.

She gestured to the elbrot. Re-do the spell.

I can’t.

Had the overdose of potion affected his ability to work magery? His chest heaved and he whipped around, staring behind him again. His eyes were wild, his mouth gaping. Was the shifter madness coming?

Holm hurled the last rock aside. Tobry wriggled into the horizontal shaft, his broad shoulders touching the sides, and held the elbrot out to light the way. The water was clearer here; she could see for yards. She followed, expecting the shaft to turn upwards, but it kept going, and going.

And going.

The breathless feeling was growing by the minute, draining the energy from her. She could not last much longer. Neither could Holm, who still wore that stricken look. Tobry, help! Do something.

She could not reach him. He was too far ahead and going faster than she could.

Then his light disappeared.

Behind her, Holm let out a frenzied cry that was throttled by the water. Tali reached back, caught his hand and gave it a jerk. Her head struck rock. She groped all around, discovered that the shaft took an upwards bend, and kicked upwards. The orange light of the elbrot was dwindling above them as Tobry raced for the surface. Tali struggled after him, lungs heaving, breath gone. She had nothing left.

She ran out of steam twenty feet from the surface. Her muscles stopped working, as though her last air had been diverted to her brain. For what? She wasn’t capable of thought, much less of some magery that could save them…